+++
title = "Language"
date = "2020-06-13"
description = "Commentary and notes on folk languages"
+++


My personal rules
=================

*Work in progress.*

I will strive to follow these rules from now on:

No gender specific pronouns/determiners
:   Use Spivak lowercase, except capitalize the nominative, because it
    has explict declension and seems the most dyslexic-friendly.

No god pronouns
:   They have no place.

Use ye for plural you
:   Important (ye and yers, with determiner yer).

No state of being
:   Use e-prime.

Do not use \"as\" for \"because\"
:   Just say because, or write the sentence in causal order.

Potential rules
---------------

-   Add exclusive and inclusive we, us, our, ours.
-   English speakers usually refer to the \"neuter\" for the it
    pronouns, but I prefer the Japanese concept for inanimate objects
    better, albeit for verbs. TBD for the plural declension of the word.

A note on pronouns
==================

English uses pronouns and determiners (referred to below as simply
pronouns) as gender identifiers, addresses, and pointers. In general,
languages do not always do this, and not all languages allow for using
pronouns. For example, using a second person pronoun in Japanese can
mean intimacy or informal speech and thus cause offense. English also
has cases when using pronouns can cause offense when mis-gendering or
neutering someone.

Without ditching pronouns completely, I suggest reducing the use of
pronouns to pointers only. And then if someone requests a particular
address for themselves, whether it includes gender or not, use that
instead.

Words marked for obsolescence
=============================

man
---

This word and its cognates in other languages just means human, but isms
such as sexism and classism have warped its meaning. I have the opinion
that the word should no longer have any place in contemporary language,
except perhaps as an exclamation or expression such as \"Ah man! I
almost had that!\"

This one will take some time, so I don\'t expect to get it correct while
writing it this first time. Take these obvious examples:

-   man
-   woman
-   human
-   man pages

master
------

This word causes offense because it has association with slavery, often
even the metaphor explicitly uses both words in practice. Thus, one
should only use this word when referring to slavery.

-   master\'s degree
-   master branch
-   master device
-   master drive
